We love to emphasize human development. And for good reason, it's amazing how far we've come in the last centuries, decades, and even years. Science advances in leaps, introducing one groundbreaking invention after the other, fueling our minds with thoughts about the next big thing.
But that doesn't mean that we were clueless in the past. If we were to dig a little bit in history, it would reveal that people have always had the capacity to outdo themselves. Yes, the tools might have been different and not so sophisticated, but some of the artifacts that survived the test of time still surprise us to this day.
Here's a collection of man-made things shared on arguably the biggest online history catalog, Museum of Artifacts. They definitely didn't lose the "wow" factor!
#21
Incan Wall, a fine example of master Stonemasonry. Cuzco, 1400's.
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517points
#23
"Ratto di Proserpina" is a large Baroque marble sculptural group by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed between 1621 and 1622. Bernini was only 23 years old at its completion. Now on display at the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
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512points
#24
Detail from the "unswept floor" mosaic made by Heraclitus, showing a mouse eating a walnut. 2nd century CE, now on display at the Vatican Museums.
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503points
#27
Mourning clothes worn by count Magnus Brahe at the funeral of king Karl XIV Johan of Sweden in 1844.
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488points
#28
Elaborate Ottoman-era birdhouses resembling miniature palaces and mosques.
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487points
#29
Ivory carving of a skull and coiled snake with carnelian eyes. Japan, Edo period, 1860.
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486points
#30
A gun hidden within a bible, made for Francesco Morozini, Doge of Venice (1619-1694). The owner of the bible could pull the silk bookmark to shoot while the book was still closed. Now on display at the Museo Correr in Venice.
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476points
#32
An amateur treasure hunter with a metal detector turned up a Medieval, gold ring that was set with a sapphire stone in Sherwood Forest—haunt of the legendary (or real) Robin Hood. Experts have examined the ring and believe it may date to the 14 th century.
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453points
#33
14000 years old bisons sculptures found in Le Tuc d'Audoubert cave. Ariege, France.
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450points
#34
Two books I picked up from the Goodwill where I work. The one on the left was printed in 1711 and is a collection of Pliny the Younger’s letters. The one on the right was printed in 1771 and is a school book about Greek Mythology.
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449points
#35
Abuna Yemata Guh is a monolithic church located in the Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is situated at a height of 2,580 metres (its entrance is highlighted by a red circle) and has to be climbed on foot to reach. It is notable for its wall paintings dating back to the 5th century.
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448points
#38
Crystal spearhead found in a 5,000-year-old megalithic tomb in Spain. The tomb had the remains of 25 individuals, several of whom had consumed a poisonous substance.
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416points
#39
A Roman toddler's footprint in a red clay tile, imprinted as it was drying ~2000 years ago. Vaison-la-Romaine (ancient Vasio Vocontiorum).
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411points
#40
One of the 4000-year-old well-preserved wagons unearthed in the Lchashen village in the vicinity of Lake Sevan. Made of oak, they are the oldest known wagons in the world. Now on display at the History Museum of Armenia.
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401points
